TL;DR
Apify is the best cloud scraping platform for most use cases. Free tier is generous. Pre-built tools save weeks of development. Main downsides: premium actors get expensive at scale, learning curve for custom development.
The Bottom Line
We have used Apify since 2021. Run thousands of scraping jobs. Built custom actors. Tested competitors. Here is our honest take.
Apify is not perfect. But it is the best option for most people who need web data. The pre-built actors work. The platform is reliable. Support responds fast.
If you are not a developer, Apify saves you from hiring one. If you are a developer, it saves you from building infrastructure.
Quick Verdict
| Category | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | ★★★★★ | Point and click interface |
| Actor Quality | ★★★★☆ | Top actors are excellent, some junk in store |
| Pricing | ★★★★☆ | Fair for small jobs, gets expensive at scale |
| Documentation | ★★★★★ | Best in class, examples for everything |
| Support | ★★★★☆ | Fast responses, Discord community active |
| Overall | ★★★★☆ | Best for most users |
What We Like
1. Pre-Built Actors Work
The top actors in the store are battle-tested. Google Maps Scraper has 237,000+ users. Instagram Scraper runs millions of jobs daily. These tools work because they have to.
Compare this to building your own scraper. You spend weeks handling rate limits, proxy rotation, and site changes. Or you pay a few dollars and get data in minutes.
2. Generous Free Tier
$5/month in free credits. No credit card needed. Enough to test most actors and run small projects indefinitely.
We know people who have run small research projects for months without paying anything. Try doing that with Bright Data or Oxylabs.
3. Excellent Documentation
Apify documentation is genuinely good. Code examples in Python and JavaScript. Video tutorials. Active Discord. The team actually responds to questions.
4. Reliable Infrastructure
Uptime is solid. Proxies are included. Scheduling works. Data storage handles large datasets. All the boring infrastructure stuff that would take months to build yourself.
5. Pay Per Result Model
Many actors charge per result rather than compute time. This makes costs predictable. You know exactly what 1,000 Google Maps businesses will cost before you run the job.
What We Dislike
1. Expensive at Scale
Small jobs are cheap. Large jobs add up fast. Scraping 100,000 LinkedIn profiles at $0.015 each costs $1,500. At that volume, building your own infrastructure starts making sense.
2. Store Quality Varies
Anyone can publish actors. Many are abandoned, broken, or duplicates. Stick to actors with high user counts and recent updates. Ignore anything below 4.0 stars.
3. Learning Curve for Custom Development
Building your own actors requires learning the Apify SDK. Not hard if you know JavaScript or Python. But it is not as simple as point-and-click.
4. Limited Historical Data
Data retention is 7-30 days depending on plan. Need to keep data longer? Export it or connect to external storage. This adds workflow complexity.
Pricing Analysis
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 ($5 credit) | Testing, small research projects |
| Starter | $49 | Regular users, small businesses |
| Scale | $499 | Agencies, data-heavy businesses |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large organizations |
Our take: Start free. Upgrade to Starter when you hit limits. Only consider Scale if you are running jobs daily.
Who Should Use Apify
Use Apify if you:
- Need data from popular sites (Google, Instagram, Amazon, etc.)
- Want results without writing code
- Run occasional to regular scraping jobs
- Value your time over cost optimization
Skip Apify if you:
- Need to scrape millions of pages monthly
- Target obscure sites with no existing actors
- Have developers who can build and maintain scrapers
- Need real-time data (sub-minute freshness)
Competitors Compared
| Platform | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Apify | Pre-built actors, free tier, documentation | Expensive at scale |
| Bright Data | Largest proxy network, enterprise features | Complex, expensive, sales-driven |
| Octoparse | Visual scraper builder, desktop app | Less reliable, fewer pre-built options |
| ScrapingBee | Simple API, JavaScript rendering | No pre-built scrapers, API-only |
Common Questions
Q: Is Apify worth the money?
A: For most users, yes. Calculate your time cost. If building a scraper takes 20 hours at $50/hour, that is $1,000. Apify charges pennies per result.
Q: Is the free tier actually usable?
A: Yes. $5/month runs about 1,000 Google Maps results or 1,600 TikTok videos. Enough for testing and small projects.
Q: How reliable are the actors?
A: Top actors (high user count, recent updates) are 95%+ reliable. Lesser-known actors vary. Always test before production use.
Q: Can I use my own proxies?
A: Yes. Most actors let you configure custom proxies if you prefer your own.
Q: Is there a money-back guarantee?
A: No formal guarantee. But support will credit failed runs if an actor has bugs.
Final Verdict
Apify is not the cheapest option. It is not the most flexible for custom needs. But for the average person who needs web data, it is the best choice.
Start with the free tier. Run a few jobs. See if the results meet your needs. You will know within an hour if Apify works for you.